Moving Into 2024 With PEACE

Flore Therapy Group has been up and running for just four, short months. We have been on an exciting, new learning curve; one that has involved adjusting to new work spaces, systems and diverse client needs.

Moving forward, leading our lives with positive intentional practices to be more peaceful, can serve us well. While we cannot control the decisions, actions and words of others (just take a look around; consider the state of our world), we can decide how we want to show up. We can intentionally decide how we want to react to what the world is throwing at us. We can hold tight like the eye of the storm and allow the chaos to swirl around us; we can separate ourselves from that which can throw us off our personal course of integrity.

If you are fatigued by the frenetic pace of your day-to-day experience, if you are tiring of the negativity you hear and experience, if you are weakened by the conflict and disrespect that invades your space, then intentionally embracing peace and calm might very well make a significant difference to your body/mind health, as you move into the New Year.

If you are a person who feels compelled to make a list of New Year’s resolutions (good for you), you will be much more likely to be successful at creating successful change if you go about it from a place of peace from an intentional state of awareness and mindfulness; from a place of pro-action rather than reaction.

As John Lennon emphasized, “Peace is not something you wish for. It’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.”

Lisa Gambardi (2023) presented some very inspiring intentions related to experiencing both internal and external peace; “for practicing peace within and extending peace outward.”

Here are highlights from her 10 ways to intentionally be peaceful:

Peace is an inside job. Start by centering yourself with internal calm. Calm your body and calm your feelings. Breath slowly and deeply. You are here, now. You are okay. You are enough. Set your intention to practice internal calm and peace.

Offer yourself compassion. Connect your humanity (both vulnerabilities and strengths) to the humanity of others.

Be in the present moment. Much inner distress resides in the past or in our concerns about the future. You can choose to focus on what is okay, in your body, within yourself and within your immediate surroundings right now.

Practice non-judgment. You don’t know someone else’s story or struggles. Other people’s choices and actions are not your business. You are your business. You control you. Start by

judging yourself less critically. It’s easier to extend non-judgment outward when you start with yourself.

Practice gratitude. Our brains so easily focus on the negative. It can be a great exercise in mental control to shift attention to something good and positive. Training yourself to see goodness and be grateful about things big and small can make a significant shift in how you feel. When shared, it can make a positive impact on how someone else feels.

Spend time in nature. Nature accepts. Nature doesn’t judge. Nature just is.

Offer a smile. Research shows moving your facial muscles into a smile is associated with improved mood. Your smile will be contagious. It will uplift you and others.

Listen first. We all want to be seen and heard with empathy and understanding. By listening you will make a huge positive contribution to someone. Help them feel felt and understood. Being a listener makes you a contributor to peace.

Lower your voice, speak slowly, and monitor your tone. Your calm may slow down someone who is emotionally dysregulated.

Practice kindness. Monitor how you talk to yourself. Be self-compassionate and extend compassion to others.

We wish you and your loved ones a PEACEFUL New Year!

Flore Therapy Group

Book Recommendations:

If you are looking for an interesting read about anxiety, I recommend Sarah Wilson’s (2018) First We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety.

A must read, Miguel Ruiz ‘s (1997) The Four Agreements.

References

Gambardi, L. (2023). How to be Peaceful: Ten intentional practices for the New Year. Retrieved on January 3, 2024 from https://www.gambardi.com/blob/